


Would You Like Some Fries With That Sexual Tension?

by Holdmeclosedarling (orphan_account)



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, hints of payzer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-24
Updated: 2013-01-24
Packaged: 2017-11-26 17:00:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/652472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Holdmeclosedarling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Uni!AU.  Niall and Zayn are best friends, and Zayn is just trying be an awesome friend and get Niall laid. A few disastrous dates later, Niall is fed up and just wants to be left alone with his guitar and engineering books, and refuses to let Zayn take him out anymore. Zayn is persistent, and scores him a date with Louis Tomlinson, a drama major in one of Zayn’s classes. (Ziall Friendship, Larry Friendship, Zarry side relationship.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Would You Like Some Fries With That Sexual Tension?

**Author's Note:**

> For El, the light of my life <3

Niall Horan was perfectly happy being single, thank you very much. He had his engineering books and his guitar and Zayn to keep him company, and that was that.

They took up most of his time, anyway.

And if he sometimes watched Liam and Danielle snuggle up on the couch, and felt a jolt of something stir deep in his stomach, well, he could always blame it on something he had eaten.

So yeah, so what if he hasn’t had a boyfriend in a while, and he goes to sleep with a bottle of Jack Daniels as his companion some nights, and he’s almost forgotten what it’s like to hold hands, and watch sappy movies, and kiss underneath the stars?

He doesn’t need that.

Not at all.

********************************************************************************

The thing about being friends with Zayn is that you’re constantly being pushed into doing things you never really wanted to do in the first place, like talking to people you’d rather not talk to, and finger painting, and stealing cookies from the bakery down the street that is run by some cranky old man, but has the best pastries in the world.

Being friends with Zayn means that the word “No” is thrown out of your voocabulary after your second hang out, and Niall knows this better than anyone else.

So, when Zayn is determined to set him up with every boy he even so much as glances at, Niall knows he is doomed.

********************************************************************************

His first disasterous date is with a boy named Kyle, and he is too cocky, too in love with himself, and Niall is so uncomfortable, they barely get through thirty minutes of their dinner before he has to excuse himself and feign illness.

After that, it all goes downhill.

Zayn sets him up with a whole string of boys, Oscar and Josh and Danny and Justin and Freddie and others that Niall could barely remember and he finds something wrong with all of them.

They’re too loud, or dumb, or nice, or skinny, or blonde, or or or-

They’re never what he’s looking for.

When Zayn asks one night, frustrated that Niall comes back to their flat empty handed with no tales of pulls and long, ardous kisses yet again, what it is he wants, Niall has no answer.

Because, yeah, he doesn’t know.

********************************************************************************

Zayn says he’s found the perefct date this time, but he’s been saying that for the past five guys, so Niall ignores it, but Zayn keeps insisting.

“Louis Tomlinson is his name, Niall. You’ve never gone out with a Louis.”

He pauses, and Niall looks up and huffs. No use getting studying done now.

Zayn looks satisfied. “He’s a bit eccentric, yeah? with the hair and the braces, and the toms. But once you get past his whole y’know, existence, he’s really not bad at all. He’s nice and sweet and an actual darling.”

Then why don’t you date him, Niall petulantly thinks.

” You can’t not get laid, Ni. It’s against the rules of humanity, or summat. You to need to reproduce, mate. “

Niall rolls his eyes. “Zayn, In case you haven’t noticed, I’m into lads. I don’t even think that’s possible.”

Zayn ignores him.

“One date, Niall. You’ll like him, I promise. If not, well, you can go back to wanking over your guitar and using it as a weird sex toy. And I being the awesome best mate that I am, will stop trying to get you a good shag.”

Niall wants to protest that he’s not having sexual relations with an inanimate object, howverydareyou, but he knows it’s futile to argue when Zayn’s in one of his moods.

He settles for rolling his eyes and huffing exaggeratedly.

Zayn gives him the puppy dog eyes, the same ones he used when they were eight and Niall didn’t want to climb the tallest tree in the neighborhood, the same ones he used when they were sixteen, and he convinced Niall to steal liquor from his parents’ cabinets, the same ones that he used when he set up the rolling paper and took out a little baggie filled with weed, and Niall thought nononono, but did it anyway.

He finds he still can’t say no to Zayn.

“Fine. One date. But if he starts talking about Judy Garland and Liza Minelli, I’m leaving. “

Zayn is beaming at him, like he’s the best thing he’s seen in ever, and Niall smiles tentatively backs.

He can do one date with- what’s his name- Louis something or other, right?

********************************************************************************

He can’t do this.

It’s not that the date isn’t going quite well, on the contrary.

It’s actually fucking perfect.

Louis is charming, and funny, and sososo beautiful, with his windswept hair and his blue eyes like the sea, and his rosy cheeks and crinkly smile and his stupid opinions and his loud laugh and his fantastic, fatastic arse.

It’s too much for Niall.

They’re at a fancy restaurant, and Niall orders almost everything on the menu, almost as a weird defense mechanism, to maybe put Louis off, show him he’s dealing with something more than customary hand-holding and eskimo kisses and long walks on the fucking beach.

He wants Louis to reject him, so he can go home and deal with these stupid feelings bubbling up at the bottom of his throat, like “Hi. I know we only met, but I’m pretty sure i’m half in love with you” and “Can I kiss you forever?”

Instead, Louis laughs, head thrown back, long expanse of neck bared, and Niall has to bite his own tongue to stop from reaching out and sinking his teeth into tanned muscle.

“I like a boy with a good appetite.” Louis winks and lets his eyes trail down from Niall’s eyes, to his lips, and then bites his own, eyes hooded.

Fuck.

********************************************************************************

Dinner goes smoothly, and Niall finds himself laughing or blushing at everything Louis says, and soon, they’re the only two left at the restaurant and it’s near closing time.

Niall doesn’t pay for dinner (his protests are drowned out by Louis gripping his wrists firmly, and drawing money out of his trouser pockets) and he wonders if this is what love feels like.

Louis suggests a walk, and though Niall is afraid of being completely alone with him, he relucantly agrees.

The thing is, Louis is so earnest and wants to know everything about Niall, like where’s he from, does he still miss Ireland, what is he studying, what does he think about Steps getting back together, Will he play guitar for Louis sometime?

The thing is, Louis is everything Niall is not. he is interesting and lovely and flirtatious and opinionated and gorgeous. He makes Niall feel alive and it’s exhilaritating, but also kind of terrifying at the same time.

And that’s why he needs to end this, no matter how much he likes Louis, no matter how much his heart cries out in agony. Louis will find someone better than Niall, Irish boy from a small town who plays the guitar and eats too much and laughs too loudly and loves Justin Beiber and wears stupid snapbacks of teams he’s never heard of.

That’s why when Louis leans in, eyes fluttering closed, lips red and bitten and so inviting, Niall runs away.

He hears a voice calling out his name, but he doesn’t turn back.

********************************************************************************

Niall doesn't talk about his date with Zayn, even though he keeps asking, and refuses to go out anywhere, rather burying himself in his work and playing sad love songs when he isn’t calculating the velocity of a ball at t= 3 seconds.

He resolutely doesn't think about Louis and his cheeky grin and his stupid northern accent, and how his hands felt around Niall’s waist and how close they were to each other.

Sometimes, though, in the privacy in of his own bedroom, no books or classes and after his guitar has been packed away, Niall touches his wrists and remembers soft touches and heated glances.

********************************************************************************

Niall sees Louis again completely by accident.

He’s walking back home from class, texting Zayn about going to Liam’s later that night, when he looks up and sees the feathery haired boy with some exceptionally pretty boy, with curly hair and dimpled cheeks that he can see even from here.

The curly haired boy is gesturing wildly, and Louis is laughing and fuck, Niall wants to shrivel up in a ball and cry.

When Louis pulls the boy closer, until they’re cuddling next to each other (and for fucks sake, they look beautiful together) and morph into a single person, Niall knows he’s lost.

To make matter worse (God hates him, he’s sure of it), Louis chooses that moment to look directly into his line of vision and they both stare at each other warily.

And then, Louis is coming towards him, and Niall can feel this urge thrumming in his veins, the urge to run away, but also stay and kiss Louis’s lips and punch Pretty Boy in the nose and this is all so confusing and shitshitshitshit.

Louis is standing right front of him now, and he timidly smiles.

“Hey. ummm- It’s been a while, yeah?”

Niall wants to laugh, because has it?

It’s only been three weeks, eighteen and a half hours, and something seconds.

(He’s not counting.)

But he manages to stutter out a “Y-yeah” and hopes to God he isn’t blushing.

Pretty Boy clears his throat behind Louis, and Niall turns to look at him, all emerald eyes and wiry frame and sososo pretty.

Louis points at the boy, a fond smile on his face, and says “This is Harry.” Like that’s supposed to mean something. (and maybe it is, but Niall refuses to listen to that voice)

Pretty B-Harry, holds out a hand and Niall is embarassed by the callouses on his fingers from late nights playing the guitar, when Harry’s hand is so smooth and soft.

Harry offers him a dazzling smile, and a “Nice to finally meet you mate”, but all Niall is looking at is Louis looking at Harry like he’s the sun and moon and the answer to the whole universe, and Niall feels the sharp pang of jealousy stir in his heart.

It’s ridiculous, because Louis was never his, not really. They just went on one date, and Niall had run away and ruined everything.

Of course, Louis moved on.

He just-

He just didn’t expect it to hurt this much.

And right now, he has to leave before he starts to do something pathetic, like throw a tantrum and rub against Louis and ask him to love him the best, or worse, cry.

So he nods politely, and mutters that he has to go, and sprints the opposite direction of where he and Zayn live.

***********************************************************************

Later that night, when he’s five or six beers deep, and he’s loose lipped from the alcohol, he decides to whine to Zayn about his problems and how Louis has moved on and “life just sucks, and he’s aiming for alocol poisioning, so be a mate and ring his mum and tell her he loves her and tell Mrs. Malik that she will always be the most beautiful woman he’s ever laid eyes on.”

Zayn laughs, calls him an idiot, tells him that Louis likes him, and then cuddles up close to him, feet intertwined, like when they were six years old and Niall was so sick he could barely talk.

Niall looks back at his best friend, the boy who’s stuck with him through the years, the one who’s been there through missing teeth and squeaking voices and mud houses and first crushes and last kisses and school productions, and Niall is so grateful.

“I love you.” His voice cracks as he says it, but it’s worth it when he sees Zayn’s blinding grin.

He watches as Zayn snuggles closer, ruffles Niall’s hair, and laughs into his neck.

“I love you too, you giant, sappy pillock. Forever, yeah?”

Niall smiles in the darkness.

“Yeah. Forever.”

********************************************************************

Zayn decides he and Niall should go the new bakery on the corner of Alston’s for lunch one day and Niall agrees, because seriously, when has he ever said no to food?

He’s really startng to regret his decision now, though.

Because Louis’s on top of the counter, bits of flour in his hair, grinning at Harry, who’s behind him, charmingly flirting with a lady who looks too flustered to even be near his presence.

Louis catches sight of Zayn first, waving madly and nearly toppling over in his excitement, before he sees Niall, and his smile dims, eyes flicking back between Zayn and Niall.

Before Niall has time to dwell on that, though, Zayn grabs Niall’s arm and drags him over.

” ‘Lo, Lou. Mind if me and Niall get our orders now itself?”

Louis shakes his head, still looking at Niall, and takes down their orders of two blueberry scones, three pumpkin spiced muffins and a strawberry pastry for Niall, and a Yorkshire tea for Zayn, and moves to bring them their food.

It’s awkward, though. He can feel Louis and even Harry staring at him while he’s eating, and sometimes, he swears he sees Louis clench his fists tightly whenever Zayn makes him laugh.

Soon enough, Zayn taps his carton of cigs, and tells Niall that he’ll back soon, giving hm a pointed look in Louis’s direction, and God, trust Zayn to have planned this shit out.

He leaves before Niall can protest, and he watches as Harry whispers something to Louis, and then leave through the back door.

The register isn’t busy, and Louis is wiping down the counter, resolutely not looking at him and Niall feels awful.

“Hey.” He whispers when he approaches, and watches as the muscles in Louis’s jaw clench and unclench.

“Hello.” Louis says, perfectly cordial, and Niall wants to run away again.

But he doesn’t. Instead, he grabs Louis’s wrist and pulls him closer, the outside world forgotten.

“Listen, i’m sorry. I shouldn’t have run away from you. It’s just that you scared me, yeah? You made me feels things that I haven’t felt for a long time. And I wasn’t ready. And I just thought, you could do so much better, Lou. So much fucking bettter, and I knew you were going to find someone else, and Harry’s beautiful and you go so well together, and I’m sorry that I’m too late, because, there is nothing, nothing more that I want to do than kiss you everyday of my life and wake up to you singing in the shower, and I- I know I’m out of time, but I needed to get this off my chest, so feel free to reject me at anytime.”

Louis looks at him throughout his little speech, wide-eyed and mouth forming a little ‘O’, before he says, confused and a little bit amused, ”You thought me and Hazza were together?”

Now it’s Niall’s turn to be confused.

“Well, I just assumed-“

Louis grins, eyes soft and with an expression that make Niall want to squeal into his bedsheets.

“No, we- we’ve been best mates for years. I thought you and Zayn were together.”

Niall is horrified. “No, Never. He’s my best mate, and he’s like a brother. That would be like, incest.”

Louis laughs and pulls Niall closer, till they’re flushed, chest to chest.

“Good, cause Haz has a crush the size of Jupiter on him, and I want you all to myself. Is that okay?”

Niall feels his smile grow bigger, and he barely manages a “yes” before Louis kisses him.

He tastes like strawberries and chocolate and yorkshire tea and sunshine and laughter and it’s perfect.

When they break apart, the whole shop is staring at them, and they briefly register Zayn and Harry whooping and hollering outside, but mostly, they only have eyes for each other.

“No more running away. We’re going to do this.” Louis whispers into his skin.

And who is Niall to argue with that?

********************************************************************

They’re all together in Niall and Zayn’s flat for Christmas, and Niall watches fondly as Zayn and Harry wear matching sweaters and trade soft, sleepy kisses under the mistletoe.

“Sickenly adorable, aren’t they?” Arms wrap around his waist, and a sharp, pointed chin rests on his shoulder.

“I want to gag just looking at them, ” Niall agrees before turning around and kissing Louis sloppily on the mouth, “revolting, they are.”

“I reckon we’re cuter.” Louis replies and peppers soft little pecks down Niall’s neck, his other hand moving dangerously close to his crotch.

“Oi, lovebirds!”

Niall and Louis pull apart, Louis whining as he tries to chase Niall’s mouth, as Niall giggles and moves further away.

Zayn and Harry are both staring at them, smirking.

“If you’re quite finished,” Harry laughs, “Me and Zayn want to watch Love Actually, a christmas classic.

(Zayn protests in the background, but everyone pointedly ignores him) So yeah, put your boners away.”

Louis flips him the bird,and gives Niall’s bum a quick squeeze for good measure, before walking behind Zayn and Harry.

He turns around, right before the threshold separating the kitchen and living room, and mouths “I love you” to Niall, throwing in a wink.

Niall laughs, and mouths it back, because he does, he does.

And he’s never been happier.

**Author's Note:**

> OMG HOW BAD WAS THIS UGH  
> 


End file.
